In recent years, the rising popularity of outdoor recreational activities, such as boating and camping, has lead to an increase in the use of trailers, campers, and other towed vehicles. Moreover, many state and federal laws require that towed vehicles, such as trailers, have complete on-board electrical systems for providing, for instance, brake lights, turn signals, and other electrical functionality. These complete on-board electrical systems are usually controlled by the electrical system of the towing vehicle in a master-servant relationship. For example, a driver of the towing vehicle can operate the lights of the towed vehicle by merely controlling the lighting system of the towing vehicle.
Generally, a hard-wired electrical connection is implemented to interface the electrical systems of the vehicles. Hard-wired electrical connections are typically implemented via respective wiring harnesses disposed on the vehicles. Each of the wiring harnesses have harness connectors with female and/or male terminals in a pin and/or blade configuration in order to establish an electrical interconnection between the wiring harnesses. The towed vehicle usually comprises an array of male pin terminals for insertion into an array of female pin terminals associated with the wiring harness of the towing vehicle.
Early wiring harnesses comprised relatively simple harness connectors having four terminals arranged in a linear manner in a flat configuration. Consequently, these four-terminal harness connectors are commonly known as "four-way-flat" harness connectors. Further, these four-terminal harness connectors were usually sufficient for handling low current requirements of simple electrical systems providing for signal lights, for example, brake lights, parking lights, a left turn signal light, and a right turn signal light.
However, trailers, campers, and other towed vehicles are rapidly evolving and are becoming more sophisticated and larger in size. The newer towed vehicles are equipped with a multitude of more complex accessories, such as electric braking systems, separate air conditioners, stove, and refrigerators. These accessories require higher electrical currents and power, which necessitate heavier and a greater number of interconnections. Today, harness connectors having six or seven wires are becoming increasingly more common on towing vehicles. As a result, the terminals in harness connectors are being arranged in a circular configuration resulting in a round connector end, instead of in a flat configuration, in order to conserve space. The foregoing harness connectors are known in the art as a "six-way-round" harness connector and "seven-way-round" harness connector. Moreover, these harness connectors are being configured with pin and/or blade as well as male and/or female terminals.
However, the implementation of more complex harness connectors having a greater number of terminals is problematic. Over eighty five percent (85%) of conventional trailers in use today still use a four-terminal harness connector. This includes the majority of commercial rental trailers, as well as all other trailers and towed vehicles that include only an operating lighting system and none of the aforementioned accessories. Consequently, in order to interface these conventional trailers with the electrical system of a newer towing vehicle, the more complex harness connector of the towing vehicle having a multiplicity of terminals must be replaced, modified, or bypassed in some manner. Furthermore, replacing the more complex harness connector with a simple four-way harness connector is undesirable because the procedure is expensive and permanently prevents future use of the more complex harness connector with a more sophisticated trailer having a cooperating complex harness connector.
In a conventional modification technique, a pinch-type clamp connector is squeezed directly over the wires of the electrical system associated with the towing vehicle. The clamp connector is intended to cut through the insulation of the wires to establish an electrical connection. Over time, however, the clamp connectors can cut through or cause the wires to break, thereby damaging the electrical system and requiring repair.
In a conventional bypass technique, the light covers are first removed from the tail lights of the towing vehicle. Then, electrical connections are made via the light bulb sockets. Needless to say, this juryrigging arrangement is aesthetically unsightly. Further, this arrangement often destroys the water seal around the light covers, which can undesirably lead to damage to the sockets and electrical system. Finally, as the vehicles move through a turn, the wires tend to pull against the lens covers, thereby damaging the lens covers.
Accordingly, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry for a means and method of interfacing the various types of more complex harness connectors provided by newer towing vehicles with the simple four-terminal harness connectors found on older towed vehicles, such as trailers, campers, or the like, without requiring total permanent replacement of the harness connector on the towing vehicle and without requiring a juryrigged connection to the harness connector or associated electrical system.